


My Hero

by SmileySunflower



Series: Sunflower's Stony Stories [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Hurt Tony, Kidnapping, Love Confessions, M/M, Protective Steve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-09-28 18:13:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20430278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmileySunflower/pseuds/SmileySunflower
Summary: Stony Stories to fill your every need.Tony woke with a strained groan. Where was he? What happened? Where was-"Tony?""S-Steve?"





	My Hero

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or anything associated with it, I am writing purely for enjoyment.

Tony woke with a strained groan. He shifted and immediately regretted it when a sharp pain ran through the entirety of his body. He opened his eyes and saw nothing in the pitch black room. He slowly realized he was laying on the ground, hands handcuffed behind his back. He let out a breathy sigh and laid his head back down, closing his eyes. 

He his head was killing him. "Ow." Where was he? What's going on? Where was-

"Tony?"

Tony's body jerked in surprise, causing the pain to flare up again. "Uhnn..whaa?"

"Tony, it's Steve."

"Steve?" Steve who? And where was this voice coming from? "Ahhh..." Thinking made his brain hurt. "Mmmm..."

"Tony!" 

"Owww. Stop yelling," Tony slurred, "I can-I can hear you."

"Tony, listen to me. We were taken when we were leaving the gala. Do you remember that?"

"Uhhh..." Gala? Taken? Steve? This was to much for his brain to process at once. "Where...where..."

"We're in a holding cell, Tony. We were taken by Hydra when we were leaving the gala."

Hydra...gala...Steve...Steve!

Tony groaned once again. "S-Steve?" 

"Yes, Tony, it's me," he sounded relieved, "are you all right? They hit you on the back of the head pretty hard?" That part just sounded angry.

His head? Yeah, his head _hurt. "_St-Steve? I think I hit my head. _Hurts."_

That earned him a dark chuckle. "Yeah, you hit your head. I'm sorry it hurts and I can't do anything to fix it. Don't worry though, I won't let them touch you again." Steve sounded mad. Like really, really mad. Steve was never suppose to sound like that. He only sounded like that when there was something very wrong and Tony couldn't help but worry it was because of him. 

He squinted into the darkness, trying to make out Steve's figure. He was trying to be strong, but his weak voice gave him away. "Steve, are you m-mad at me?" That is a completely un-Tony Stark like thing to ask but his brain isn't exactly cooperating with his mouth right now. And regardless of any of that, he never actually wants Steve to be angry at him. 

"What? No, Tony! Of course I'm not mad at you! I'm mad at the people that hurt you." 

That took a weight off Tony's shoulders. "Oh. Oh okay, that's good."

Another laugh came from the other side of the room, but this time it sounded like a real Steve laugh. Tony smiled into the shadows. He made Steve laugh. He loved making Steve laugh. "I'm glad your here," he said, because, you know, the brainwave to filter his mouth had been turned to mush, "not here here, but here. With me. Now I'm not as scared." 

Silence. "Steve?" Was Steve gone? Did Hydra already take him away? "Steve?!"

"I'm here, Tony. It's okay. I'm sorry I scared you. You just surprised me is all," Tony could almost imagine seeing Steve through the pitch blackness, his gorgeous face frowning. "I'm glad I'm here with you too. You know I won't let them hurt you again." There was no question about that. Tony knew how protective Steve was of his team, but he couldn't help but feel giddy everytime that protectiveness was directed at him. He thought it was hot. Like Steve. Steve's hot. Steve..where is Steve exactly?

"Steve, where are you?"

"I'm on the opposite side of the cell. They've got me hanging from handcuffs from the ceiling. Well, not really hanging, " his voice turned sheepish, "I'm to tall to be hanging." 

"Oh yeah. You're so tall. I love a tall man." Tony giggled to himself. That turned out to be a mistake since all it did was remind him of his monster headache. "Uhhh. My head. You said they hit my head?" 

"Yes, Tony. They hit you on the back of the head when they were taking us away."

"Unnn...I feel like I'm gonna be sick," Tony groaned as he tried to readjust his position. "Fuck. Why is the ground so cold?" Steve made an unhappy grunting noise then said, "I wouldn't be surprised if you have a concussion. I swear, Tony, they won't touch you. I will NOT let them."

"But you can't move," come to think of it, "how come you can't break the cuffs?" 

Steve sighed heavily and Tony regretted asking. It seemed like all he did was make trouble for Steve. "They're reinforced with Vibranium. I've been trying to break them this whole time. I can feel them starting to give, so if I have just a little more time I can get us out of here."

"How did they get you? You're solid muscle." And he was. Steve that is. Solid fucking muscle. Like his entire body. That's hot. Okay. Tony needed to stop thinking things like this or he was accidentally going to say something out loud. 

"I let them take me." What. 

What!

"What? S-Steve, why? I-I don't-"

"Tony, when I saw them hit you and you went down, I lost it. They could have killed you! I wasn't suppose to see. I wasn't even suppose to be there but- I wasn't about to let them take you away. Where you go, I go." 

"But, Steve-"

His captains voice was grim and hard as steel. "I went to save you, but they just pointed their guns at your head and demanded that I go with them. I couldn't risk resisting. I know they wouldn't have shot you because that would defeat the whole purpose of taking you in the first place, but I-" He cut himself off abruptly. 

Tony's body felt cold all over but this time it wasn't from the ground. "Steve." His voice echoed in the near empty cell.

"I didn't want you to be alone. I didn't want to not know what they were doing to you. This way I'm here and I can protect you." 

"But-"

"I'll always protect you, Tony. You know that. I would do anything for you." And his voice sounded so sincere. Tony felt his eyes begin to water. Maybe it was the concussion, but more likely his unrevealed love for Steve. Not many people cared enough about Tony to say anything remotely close to that. But Steve always said those kinds of things to him, and it made him feel special and loved. 

Steve, who always made sure Tony ate, and showered, and brushed his teeth and went to bed at a reasonable time. Steve cared about him so much and always expressed it, so it wasn't fair for Tony to keep his feelings from Steve. He had to tell him. 

"Steve," he winced at how sluggish his voice sounded, "I have to tell you something. I-". That was as far as he got before two Hydra agents came storming in. 

They flicked the light on and approached Tony before lifting him up. He winced as the movement bobbled his poor, aching head. The world was spinning. He could faintly hear Steve's protests in the background. "Come on, Stark," the big, ugly one said, Tony thought he looked like Sloth from _The Goonies_, "we've got a little project for you." he sneered into Tony's face. The engineer scrunched his face up in disgust. Sheesh, when was the last time this guy had brushed his teeth? 

"Ahhh!" The side of his head exploded in pain and oops, guess he said that last part out loud. Sloth raised his hand as if he was going to try and knock Tony's brain out of his skull again.

"Don't you fucking touch him," Steve yelled, pulling at the cuffs and Tony finally got his first look at his captain. His eyes were still adjusting to the lights and his probable concussion along with the fresh hit Sloth had laid on him made it hard to open his eyes more than a squint, but he had eyes for Steve all the same.

Steve, who was still dressed in his tuxedo albeit extremely rumpled. He was indeed handcuffed to the ceiling but otherwise looked unharmed. But the expression he had on his face had Tony whimpering softly. It was so cold and livid. He never wanted Steve to look like that. 

Tony's whimper drew Steve's attention away from Sloth. He gaze softened as soon as they had made eye contact. His voice gentle and low as if he and Tony were the only ones in the room. "It's alright, Tones. Remember what I told you. You know I always keep my promises." He ended with a sweet smile. A smile Tony had every only seen Steve direct at him, no one else.

Sloth scoffed and shock Tony around a bit. "Well isn't that just the sweetest thing? You two lovers or something?' Sloth laughed at his own joke. "Well then, Mr. America, I guess you wouldn't like for me to mess with your little boyfriend, would you?" What did he mean by that? What was he-

Tony froze. He felt like he couldn't breathe.

Sloth's hand was touching him. On his crotch.

"Get your _fucking_ hands _off_ of him!" Tony could see Steve shaking with fury and straining to break the cuffs from his position on the other side of the small cell. He was so close, yet so far away.

Sloth moved his hand away, only place it on Tony's chest holding him tight and still. Not ideal, but much, much better. 

The second Hydra agent was small and squirrelly looking and didn't look very smart. He reminded Tony of Vizzini from _The Princess Bride_.

That's a great movie. Has Steve seen that movie? They'll have to watch it.

Vizzini walked up to Steve and spit in his face. "And what the hell are you going to do about it, big man? Not exactly in a position to be shouting orders, are you,_ Captain_? He made the word captain sound like something vile. 

"What the hell do you want?" Steve spat back.

Vizzini chuckled. "Oh I'm glad you asked, Captain. You see, we need some weapons, but we don't have the resources to buy these weapons. So, Stark, here is going to build them for us." He shoot them both a crooked smile. "And you, Captain? Well, you're just an added bonus. Perhaps our scientists can take a look at you and," he crooked smile shifted into something purely evil and disturbing, "we can have a little fun. Doesn't that sound nice?"

Steve stared at him in a silent madness. The phrase, if looks could kill, can to Tony's still very cloudy mind. Vizzini glanced over at Tony and expression turned even more wicked. He turned back to face Steve and leaned in close. "Or maybe..." 

Tony didn't hear the rest, but apparently it wasn't anything nice because the next thing Tony knew he was on the ground and Steve had broken out of the cuffs and was beating the snot out of both Sloth and Vizzini. Tony watched with bleary eyes as he laid on the hard, cold ground. Steve wasn't letting up. It was like he was in a trace of pure rage and he was finally letting out all the anger that had built up until this point. But Tony was feeling overwhelmed. All he wanted was Steve.

"Steve?" No response, only Cap's heavy breathing and the sound of flesh pounding flesh.

Tony began to get frantic. "S-Steve," he said a little louder. Nothing. Now he was panicking. "Steve!" He all but cried, voice soaked in desperation.

That got his friend's attention. Steve instantly stopped and turned wildly until he spotted Tony. He sucked in a wet breath, his face one of agony. "Tony-" he took a half step forward before stopping with his fists clenched. His face held nothing but concern for Tony, "can I-" he gestured forward with his hands, eyes pleading.

Tony whimpered. "_Steve_."

The soldier came forward immediately. He gently helped Tony into a sitting position before carefully ripping the cuffs of the geniuses wrists. Then he pulled Tony into the tightest hug he'd ever received. Finally, _finally_, he felt better and like he could breathe. Steve was here and Steve protected him and was going to take care of him. He leaned into the contact fully, trusting Steve to take his weight. In return, his captain had buried his face in the engineer's neck. 

It was quiet for a long time, neither willing to be the first to pull apart. "I'm so sorry, Tony," came a broken whisper from his neck, "I'm so, so sorry. I should have been better. I shouldn't have let him touch you. I should've-"

"Steve," Tony said softly, pulling back only far enough to try and make eye contact with his friend. Steve wasn't having this though, and only pulled Tony tighter against him. "You did everything you could. You were perfect." he added as he stroked Steve's golden hair. "Thank you for protecting me."

"I didn't protect you though," Steve protested roughly, finally removing his face from Tony's neck. He frowned deeply as he looked between Tony's eyes and the back of Tony's head. "I should've broken out of the cuffs sooner. I'm sorry, Tony." He sounded miserable.

Tony was confused. "No, Steve-"

"Come on," he interrupted him, expression falling into that of Captain America. "Let's get out of here." He extracted himself from the genius and stood them both up. "Steve, I-"

"It's alright now, Tony, we're going home." As much as Tony wanted to go home, he also wanted to figure out what Steve was talking about, but his head was still pounding and he felt wobbly. This much was proven when he went to take a step forward and his legs gave out from under him and he fell straight into Steve's arms. "Whoa," he mumbled, "why's the ground moving?" 

Steve let out another large sigh, and dang it. "Sorry," he slurred to his leader. 

"Don't apologize," came the gruff reply, "you've done nothing wrong. Here," Steve moved his arms to go across Tony's back and under his knees, "I'll carry you." And, wow. Usually, Tony Stark would protest being carried like a princess, but right now, it felt right (and Tony seriously doubted Steve would set him down even if he did). For now, Tony was going to enjoy this closeness to Steve and close his eyes. His head hurt so much...

"Tony? Tony, can you hear me?"

"Uhnn..." Tony tried to open his eyes only to be met with blinding lights.

"Dim the lights," came the voice again, "Tony, can you open your eyes?"

Tony struggled to open his eyes slowly to see Bruce standing over him and the doctor flashed him a kind smile. "Hi, Tony. How are you feeling? Do you know where you are?"

The genius glanced around the room and saw Natasha sitting in a chair near the door. She must have been the one to dim the lights. He turned to look at the chair next to his bed which was empty...

"I'm in a hospital." He winced has he suddenly became aware of the dull pain going on in his head. "My head hurts."

Bruce chuckled lightly, "Yeah, I can imagine, you have a concussion and Cap said that big guy knocked you around again a couple of times. I'll give you something for the pain. Be right back." He gave Tony another smile before exiting the room. 

Tony laid there, eyes darting back and forth from Natasha to ratty old sheet laying over him. Stupid Shield. You'd think they'd be able to afford better hospital bedding. Natasha just continued to stare at him, eyes unwavering.

Dang, where was Bruce?

Eventually, she broke the silence, "Do you remember what happened?" 

Tony felt foolish when he answered, "No. I just remember waking up." He deliberately left out asking where Steve was. 

Natasha just nodded and looked towards the door as if she too were waiting for Bruce to walk back in. "He feels bad."

Tony jumped in surprise. "What?"

"He feels bad, guilty. He thinks it's his fault." Tony sat there in bewilderment. "Who?"

She gave him a small smile, looking amused. "Steve."

"Oh." Oh. Right. Steve. Tony tried not to focus on the fact that Steve wasn't sitting there in the chair next to Tony's hospital bed. That he hadn't been there when Tony woke up. If Steve didn't want to be there that was- it was fine. Yeah. It was...fine. Natasha gave him a knowing smile as he played with the frayed edges of his bedsheet, pointedly not looking at her. "He wanted to be here but he thought you might not want to see him."

That caused Tony's head to shoot up, and he gave the Russian a baffled look. "What? Why would he think that?" 

"Because it's Steve. Even if you had just gotten a paper cut he would've thought it was his fault," She tilted her head a little to the side, voice going soft, "you know how protective he gets." And yeah, Tony did. He saw that in the holding cell. "Is he okay, I mean like physically?"

"He's fine, Tony, he's just worried about you."

Tony couldn't help himself any longer, "Then why isn't he here?" his voice and face both showing his dejection.

"I'm here."

They both turned to see Bruce entering back into the room and Steve standing just inside the doorway looking unsure as to whether he was allowed in or not. Dumbass. He looked everywhere but Tony.

Bruce came over to Tony and dropped a couple of pills in his hand and passed him a glass of water. Tony popped the pills and as Bruce's hand came back to grab the water, Tony grabbed his wrist before he moved to walk away and stared into his eyes. The doctor's face gave him away, Bruce never did have a good poker face. The genius looked from him to Natasha who had shooed Steve in the room. Of course, they were in on it together. They made Steve come here, the captain wasn't here because he wanted to be. Tony's facial expression must have given him away because Bruce leaned closer to whisper,"He's worried about you, Tony." 

Tony dropped Bruce's wrist and said, "Right." Yeah, worried enough to not even look at Tony. His science bro gave him a sad smile, then he and Natasha both left the room. Did Tony say science bro? He meant science foe. Traitor. 

Steve continued to stand as far away from Tony as he could get without actually leaving the room and stood stiffly, eyes on the ground. Tony huffed and began ripping his itchy bedsheet into tiny pieces, a frown forming on his face as he wondered what he did or said to make Steve feel uncomfortable around him. Neither of them spoke. "Well, isn't this wonderful," Tony thought, "he can't even stand to be near me, let alone look at me."

Steve cleared his throat, shifting awkwardly before speaking at the same time Tony said, "How are you?" "You can go."

Steve finally looked up at Tony, startled. "Do-do you want me to leave?" he asked softly, giving Tony his best imitation of a kicked puppy. Tony sighed, "No," he didn't know what to say, "It just seems like you don't want to be here so..." Steve took a couple of steps forward, arm outstretched before he stopped himself just like he did back in the holding cell, arm falling to his side. He stood staring at Tony, eyes pleading. "Tony, I-I'm sorry. Of course I want to be here, I just thought that you," he raised a hand to rub at the back of head, "I thought you might not want to see me because of what happened."

What? What was he talking about and Tony asked as much. Steve wavered a moment and then came to sit in the chair next to Tony's bedside. As much as Tony had been wanting Cap to sit there earlier, he felt nothing but anxious now. He now noticed the bandages wrapped around both of Steve's wrists. He reached out to lightly grasp Steve's wrists before he could stop himself. 

"You got hurt." 

"No," Steve said sheepishly, "I mean just a little, when I broke the cuffs but I'm pretty sure they've healed by now." He gently withdrew his hands from Tony's and Tony felt foolish for holding on for too long and blushed slightly. Steve removed the bandages to reveal his perfect wrists, all traces of any injuries gone. Tony sat there staring at the bed sheet. He didn't know what to say, what was he suppose to say. 

"You seem better," Steve began, giving him a sort of half smile, "how are you feeling?"

"Okay, I guess. Head still hurts a little." and if that wasn't the wrong thing to say... Steve instantly started frowning and he grabbed one of Tony's hands to hold between his own. "I am so sorry, Tony. I'll never be able to say it enough, but you have to know that I am sorry." He said all of this while staring Tony directly in the eyes, looking as if he begging Tony to believe him. 

"Steve, look I- it wasn't your fault, okay? You did everything that you could and you got us out of there. It really wasn't that bad, I've made it through worse." Tony tried to joke. It didn't work. Cap just continued to stare at him, eyes boring into Tony's soul. "You shouldn't have had too." He whispered so soft Tony almost didn't hear him. 

"What do you mean?'

"I should have been there to protect you." 

"Well, thanks, Cap, but unfortunately you were still MIA at the time."

Steve severed the eye contact and dropped Tony's hand. The genius missed the contact immediately. Steve got up and walked towards the door without glancing back at Tony, "I should let you rest. I'll come to see you later...if that's alright with you." 

"Steve!" 

The soldier stopped at peered back at Tony, wide-eyed. "Please don't leave. I-I mean if you really want too, but I-" he gave Steve a helpless look. "I want to talk to you." Steve fidgeted, extremely uncomfortable. "Tony-"

"_Please_."

Steve came and sat back down. Tony didn't know where to begin, he had so many questions spinning around in his head. "In the cell, you said you didn't want me to be alone and that's why you let them take you." Steve nodded. "But you also said something about how you weren't suppose to see or even be there. What did you mean by that?"

Steve sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "I wasn't suppose to be out back at the time they took you. I was suppose to have left by then." Tony still didn't understand, "Then what were you doing there?"

"I was waiting for you so we could leave together." Okay. That made sense. Didn't it? "I went looking for you and that's when I saw the two Hydra goons hit you. You know the rest." Okay, so that pretty much answered that question, but there was one other thing...

"What did Vizzini say to you?'

"What?"

"Vizzini. What did he say to you?"

"Tony, what are talking about?"

"In the cell. What did the squirrelly guy say to you to make you so mad?" 

Now Steve seemed to understand. He glanced down and refused to meet Tony's eye and was reluctant to answer Tony's question. "He- it was nothing important, Tony. They were going to force you to make weapons and hurt you. I took care of it."

Tony wasn't going to let it go. "Tell me what he said, Steve. Tell me what he said to cause you to lose it."

Steve took a deep breath, his face blank mask when he looked Tony dead in the eye, "He said, 'Maybe we'll have some fun with your boy toy. I bet he goes down real nice'."

And oh. So Tony wasn't expecting that. He opened and closed his mouth trying to figure out something to say to his captain. "They wouldn't have- you don't really think they would have- you would've never let them, Steve, I know you wouldn't."

"Of course I wouldn't have let them!" Steve yelled, getting up from the chair to pace around the room, running a hand through his hair. He looked tired. For the first time, Tony noticed that Steve was still in his tuxedo from the gala. He hadn't gone home then, he had stayed until Tony woke up at least, maybe not in the same room, but somewhere in the area. Natasha had said he thought Tony wouldn't want to see him. Idiot. 

The genius remembered what he wanted to tell Steve before Dumb and Dumber had come in and fucked everything up. It was only fair, Steve was always so attentive and kind to Tony. He protected Tony when Tony couldn't protect himself. He had to tell him.

"Steve, there's something I have to tell you." He swallowed. "It's really important."

"Tony-"

"No! I- I have to tell you." He gathered all the courage he could, "I love you."

Nothing. Steve wasn't even looking at him, he had his back to Tony and the only thing that told Tony that he had heard him was the fact that Steve had came to a halt with his pacing. 

"I-I", shit, "I'm sorry, Steve, I- I just thought you should know." After a few more moments of silence and Steve's unwillingness to turn around, Tony's entire body dropped. His shoulders hunching and disappointment written all over his face. "I'm sorry, Steve." he whispered, voice barely there, "you-you don't have to say anything and you can leave if you want to, I won't hold it against you."

And he did. Steve. Leave. He left just like that, walked right out the door as soon as the words had left Tony's mouth. And ouch, did that hurt. Tears welled up in Tony's eyes, but he refused to let them fall. It was okay if Steve didn't love him back, Tony never expected him to, he just- 

That was as far as his thoughts went before Steve came storming back into the room, his face set in determination as he walked right up to Tony and kissed him. Tony relaxed into the kiss instantly, hands coming up to frame Steve's face. It was the most chaste kiss Tony had probably ever received and it was perfect. Steve broke the kissed and pulled away to lean his forehead against Tony's. "Did you mean it?" he asked quietly. 

Tony smiled brightly and leaned up to place another quick kiss on Steve's lips. "Yes."

Steve returned his smile and pulled him into another kiss. "I love you too."

_Thank God_.

"Who's Vizzini?" Oh yeah...

"He's the bad guy from _The Princess Bride_ and Sloth is a bad/good guy from _The_ _Goonies_." Steve gave him a silly grin. "Have you seen either of those?" Tony asked.

Steve shook his head, "No. Never heard of 'em." Tony smiled happily, "We'll have to watch them then."

"Sounds like a plan," Steve said before he pulled Tony into another searing kiss.

Oh yeah, Tony could get used to this...


End file.
